Indigo Shire Council is set to welcome the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton to Rutherglen, Wahgunyah and Tangambalanga on February 22 and 23.  

Indigo Shire Council Mayor Cr Peter Graham revealed the route for the Shire’s section of the relay today (January 04) and urged the community to line the streets on the days.

He said this was a unique opportunity for locals to join in the celebrations for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and for the region to ride on the anticipation already surrounding this international festival of sport and culture.

“Significant planning has been undertaken to ensure the relay was a remarkable success and Indigo Shire had plenty to celebrate,” he said.

“We look forward to the culmination of 18 months of planning, resulting in an event that all residents of our beautiful region will enjoy and recall in years to come with great pleasure.

“The Queen’s Baton Relay is an opportunity for the region to take centre stage as the world’s attention is turned to Australia, in the days leading up to the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.”

The street level route for the Shire’s section of the relay includes travel past Wahgunyah Primary School and Kiewa Valley Primary School.

The Queens Baton relay will enter Indigo Shire on February 22 at Wahgunyah from Bundalong where it will travel along Victoria Street and Elizabeth Street to pass Wahgunyah Primary School.

The relay will then leave Wahgunyah and travel to Corowa before reaching Rutherglen. In Rutherglen, the relay will travel along Main Street and exit at the Rutherglen Springhurst Road.

The final leg through Indigo Shire will be on the February 23 where the relay will enter Tangambalanga from Tawonga and travel along Kiewa East Road where it will pass Kiewa Valley Primary School.

Several high-profile personalities and members of the community have been selected to participate in the relay, each awarded the honour of carrying the baton for one leg of its 21 500 km journey across Australia.

In Indigo Shire, local relay runners include: Harley Davies, Greg Duncan, Robert Bourke, Sandra Johnstone, Peter Croucher, Russel Dodwell, Lynne Emblin, Paul McInerney, Gregory Burrell, Bruce Morrison, Mary Sedgwick, Vin Shelley and Jennifer Templeton.

For a copy of the local route map and any further information regarding the local relay route and celebrations, please contact Council’s Economic Development Assistant Ms Melissa Brown on (03) 5728 8053 or mbrown@indigoshire.vic.gov.au.

Indigo Shire Council will also mark the upcoming 2006 Commonwealth Games on March 11 by holding a family fun day in Chiltern. 

This family fun day will involve sporting activities for young and old, market stalls and various community events and is being held in celebration of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.